Short report: Good event, excellent attendance, small profit ($6.10)
Thanks: Christine and Katherine for supper (yum!), Ludwig for being both herald and gate-keeper (phew!) and William de Cameron for being a most efficient deputy (especially at pack-up).
Financial report
Total money taken: $220
- 16 adults members, at $10 (including one SCAA member) => $160
- 5 non-member adults, at $12 => $60
- 1 child under five (not charged for the event)
Total money spent: $213. 90
- Food $149.42
- Candles $24.50
- Flowers $7.98
- Kingdom Levy $21
- Event memberships $10
Profit: $6.10
Most people paid in advance by direct deposit. The remaining 5 paid cash on the night - a total of $54, which I will give to the Reeve at the next council meeting, with the receipts.
Reimbursements requested:
- $149.42 to Chantelle Gerrard, for food.
- $33.48 to me, for flowers and candles
The original proposal is below, in italics, with comments interleaved.
18th of May, 2013
An evening of dancing, with (we hope!) a light-but-sumptuous supper, and board-games for those who prefer not to dance.
Last year's was a small-but-successful event. See here for proposal, advertisement, and post-event write-up for the 2012 ball.
It worked well in 2012 and 2013. I'd like to do it again in 2014.
I think this event (besides being an evening of self-indulgence for a pair of dance-geeks) fills out our calendar nicely. It's cheap, it's easy to run and easy to attend, it's unlike our other recurring events, and it falls in a part of the year that can be a little bare.
Site
St Phillips Presbyterian Church, aka North Shore Cook Islands Christian Church
136 Birkdale Road.
Bookings are now managed by Birkdale Community House (where we also have dance classes). Booking, paying, and collecting and returning the key was really easy.
Cost
Katherine and William would like to cover the site-cost themselves (it'll be ~$100, if the pricing is as it was last year).
It was $125 for the evening, paid for by Katherina and William.
I booked the hall from 6pm. In practice, the managers were happy for us to let ourselves in a little earlier in the day, so we could set up, then go home to eat and dress, and return after 6:30 for the ball itself. Definitely worth asking for that in advance next year.
Facilities:
This is the church next door the community house where we have dance practice. It has ample parking, basic kitchen and bathrooms, and a plain hall with stacked chairs (not pews).
I'd happily use this site again for a ball or revel. It's a good size for ~20 dancers. It has a limited kitchen (benches, domestic stove, sink), bathrooms, plenty of chairs, four trestle tables and two small tables. It wouldn't suit a feast - not enough tables, kitchen too small.
It's relatively easy to decorate. There are only two power points in the hall.
Date and time:
18th of May, 2013 (earlier than last year, to give space between ball and Bloth)
Set up from 6pm (set-up crew can get dinner from local take-aways)
Site opens 6:30pm
Dancing from 7:00
Supper at ~8:30pm
Leave site by 11pm
This was all about right. Set-up happened earlier in the afternoon, as previously noted (definitely worth asking if we can do in future - time to eat and dress is very welcome!).
Dancing started by 7:10, with most people present and dressed.
Supper was available throughout the evening. We had two breaks in the dancing, at about 8:30 and 9:30, for about 10 minutes each. There was a few minutes after each dance as a new dance was chosen, and most people danced and watched in equal measure, so there was plenty of time to eat.
We stopped dancing a little before 11pm. Most of the clean-up was done by a little after 11.
Budget and Attendance:
There's effectively no break-even number, as the barony isn't paying for any fixed costs. I expect we'll get 10-20 people attending. I'll advertise it amongst Auckland's other early-dance groups.
- Supper: $7/head
- Laundry, rubbish, etc: $2/head
- Kingdom Levy: $1/head
=> charge $10 / $12 for adult members/non-members
$5 for kids 6-16; 5 and under free
Note: because the event is small, I've made no provision for steward, set-up crew, or anyone else to get in free: all will pay full price, and get their own dinners.
Attendance
I expected 10-20 people, and got 21 adults and one child. I was extremely pleased with the attendance.
The breakdown was:
- 15 from Ildhafn city (included several from the Argent Court, who also play with the SCA)
- 4 from another Early Dance group in Auckland
- 3 travellers from other baronies
The visitors from other groups said they enjoyed the event, and were made to feel welcome: thanks, everyone.
Comparison with budget
|
Per head |
Total budgeted | Total used | ||
| Supper | $7 | $147 | $149.42 | Over by $2.42 |
| Misc | $2 | $42 | $33.48 | Under by $8.52 |
Other details
The focus of the evening will be dancing, but there
will be several tables set up with chess, backgammon, and other games
of strategy or chance, for the amusement of those who prefer not to
dance.
This seemed to work well. There were two games-tables set up, which didn't take too much space from the dancers. Chess, drafts, backgammon, the game of the goose, and several card-games were set out. They were used enough through the evening that I was glad to have had them there.
Some shorter games would be useful.
There will not be a full meal - eat something before you come - but there will be drinks throughout the evening, and a supper at about 8:30pm.
It's hard to fit in a full meal when the event starts at 7pm, but supper was lavish enough that it didn't seem to matter. I had no complaints about the timing.
We will decide what to dance on the night: everyone attending will get to pick at least one dance.
Everyone picked one dance; a few people picked two. I like this model, for up to about 25 dancers. Any more, and not everyone will get a chance to pick. It's essential to have a well-prepared herald, who can approach people in order, and who can give them sensible advice when choosing a dance.
Staff
- Steward: Katherina Weyssin (Katherine Davies)
- Deputy steward: William de Cameron (David Robb)
- Supper cook: seeking a supper cook!
William was an excellent deputy - he managed much of set-up and most of pack-up, allowing me to be an attentive "hostess" to our visitors.
Christine Bess Duvaunt and Katherine of Glastonbury cooked a delicious supper. The variety of the pies, the care with which you'd catered to diverse dietary requirements, and the plentiful cold drinks were especially appreciated.
Ludwig was the Herald for the evening - asking each dancer in turn to choose a dance, assisting with the choice as required, and then announcing it to the populace. He also managed the gate and sign-in. Another time, I would probably ask someone else to manage gate, just to split up the chores.
Had my computer and music collection been behaving better, I would have asked someone else to manage the music. As it was, I did it, with assistance from whoever was sitting nearby.